Musical Instruments

News about Musical Instruments, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 22, 2015

German new music group Ensemble Musikfabrik commission instrument maker Thomas Meixner to build set of music-making gizmos designed by late unconventional composer Harry Partch; group will perform City Center concert of Partch’s rarely heard works, unique for their 43-note tonal system, using Meixner’s replicas of whimsical contraptions invented by the microtonal composer pioneer. MORE

Jun. 14, 2015

Corey Kilgannon Character Study on Chuck McAlexander, who has been repairing brass musical instruments at his East Williamsburg workshop Brasslab for more than 40 years. MORE

Jun. 11, 2015

Michael Adams, owner and chief executive of Moog Music synthesizer company, announces employee-ownership plan that gives workers, who manufacture instruments by hand in Asheville, NC, factory, stake in company that is now more profitable than ever. MORE

Mar. 23, 2015

Grace Notes column; profile of Dionisio A Lind, who summons faithful to Manhattan's Riverside Church each Sunday by playing its 74-bell carillon; Lind operates instrument from wooden console that is nearly 400 feet above church's sanctuary; largest bell weighs some 20 tons. MORE

Feb. 14, 2015

Profile of Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, who has lent some of her musicians prized instruments that once belonged to her late parents Ruth Alsop and K Lamar Alsop; lending instruments have helped Alsop feel closer to her parents and and have given musicians chance to play great instruments that are increasingly outside their financial reach. MORE

Jan. 22, 2015

Jan. 13, 2015

Joe Sharkey On the Road column observes that beginning in March, airlines will be required to treat musical instruments like other passenger's carry-on bag, receiving 'first-come first-served' treatment in overhead bins. MORE

Dec. 14, 2014

Profile of D’Addario factory in Farmingdale, NY, which produces 700,000 strings a day for fretted and bowed instruments (Metropolitan/Long Island). MORE

May. 31, 2014

Bassoon maker Leslie Ross is swapping her cramped New York City studio for a sprawling former canning factory in Maine; like many other business owners before her, Ross is being pushed out of Manhattan by rising rents. MORE

Apr. 26, 2014

Violinist Helena Baillie is beneficiary of unusual new lending model intended to insulate talented musicians from feelings of indebtedness to benefactors and institutions alike; under arrangement, Baillie's benefactor S B Lewis donated $200,000 to Bard College, where Baillie is artistic fellow, for school to buy several instruments; Baillie has option to borrow instruments for life, purchase them at later date, or leave them to the college. MORE

Mar. 26, 2014

Stradivari viola that once belonged to Peter Schidlof of Amadeus Quartet is being offered for sale at Sotheby's, with opening bid of $45 million; sale could dwarf previous sales records for musical instruments, underscoring way collectors have driven up prices of rare pieces in recent decades. MORE

Nov. 21, 2013

The opera company won permission to auction off its remaining assets earlier this week from Judge Sean H. Lane of United States Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. MORE

Oct. 24, 2013

Francois Chambard, principal of Brooklyn furniture design company UM, has created series of unusual designs for electronic instrument theramin; designs are on display in show Odd Harmonics at Judith Charles Gallery. MORE

Oct. 10, 2013

Chinese musician Wu Man will perform with her new pipa, or Chinese lute, in season-opening concerts of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra; original instrument had been accidentally destroyed when an US Airways flight attendant dropped it during a flight. MORE

Sep. 1, 2013

Growing number of string players, even though they are not part of early-music scene, are experimenting with period instruments. MORE

Jul. 13, 2013

Pianists mourn news that venerable piano-maker Steinway & Sons has sold its Beaux-Arts Manhattan building on West 57th Street and is planning to sell whole company to private equity firm; many worry that new owners will meddle with company's time-honored and time-consuming piano manufacturing methods. MORE

Jun. 20, 2013

Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim notes that several relics of the musical greats are passing through America, including an auction of strings used by Paganini and a tour of Mozart’s reputed violin. MORE

Mar. 19, 2013

Prominent Scottish bagpiping school warns pipers around to world to clean their instruments regularly after one of its longtime members nearly dies of lung infection caused by fungi growing inside his bag. MORE

Nov. 11, 2012

Neighborhood Joint column on Retrofret, business in Gowanus, Brooklyn, that sells and repairs vintage stringed instruments. MORE

Aug. 16, 2012

Kit Eaton App Smart column highlights tablet and smartphone apps for children to learn the fun of playing musical instruments. MORE

May. 29, 2012

Dr Thomas Higham study in The Journal of Human Evolution uses improved radiocarbon tests to determine that bone flutes found in southwestern Germany are 42,000 to 43,000 years old; flutes, the oldest known instruments, were previously thought to be only 35,000 years old. MORE

Jan. 23, 2012

Antonio Stradivari cello that had belonged to Bernard Greenhouse, a founding member of the Beaux Arts trio, is sold to a woman who declined to be identified and will be on loan to Stephane Tretrault, a young cellist from Montreal. MORE

Jan. 15, 2012

Master classical musicians often play instruments that are considered masterpieces in themselves, like those crafted by Antonio Stradivari; when master musicians part with them at the end of their lives, as in the case of cellist Bernard Greenhouse, who will play the instrument is often of the utmost importance. MORE

Jan. 11, 2012

Skype and other videochat programs have transformed the simple phone call, but the technology is venturing into a new frontier as it upends and democratizes the world of music lessons; students who used to limit the pool of potential teachers to those within a 20-mile radius from their homes now take lessons from teachers, some with world-class credentials, on other coasts or continents. MORE

Jan. 3, 2012

Study published by Claudia Fritz in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that blindfolded violinists are unable to distinguish between legendary violins made by Stradivari or Guarneri del Gesu and modern instruments; study is welcomed by violin craftsman who have long held that the superiority of certain older violins is mythical. MORE

Nov. 3, 2011

David Pogue State of the Art column enthusiastically reviews new You Rock guitar from Inspired Instruments; notes guitar synthesizer with steel strings and touch sensors can sound like dozens of instruments. MORE